The Ruling on Hajj for One Who Died Without Performing It

Question: From Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz to the honorable brother, Professor S. A. H. Zadeh. May Allah increase you in knowledge and faith, amen.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
Your noble letter, dated 20/12/1383 AH, has been received. May Allah guide you. The questions it contained were known, and here are their answers. I ask Allah to grant me and you success in understanding His religion and steadfastness upon it, and to make us all, along with our other brothers, among the guided and those who follow the right path. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the Near.
If a person dies without having performed Hajj due to illness, poverty, or the like, should someone perform Hajj on their behalf?

Answer: One who dies before performing Hajj falls into one of two cases:

One of them is: The first is that he was able to perform Hajj with his body and wealth during his lifetime. In this case, it is obligatory for his heirs to pay from his estate for someone to perform Hajj on his behalf, because he did not fulfill the obligatory duty while he was able to do so, even if he did not leave a will to that effect. If he did leave a will to that effect, the matter is even more emphatic. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: [Surah Al-Imran: 97]. And the authentic hadith in which a man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The obligation of Allah upon His servants has overtaken my father, who is an old man unable to perform Hajj or travel. Should I perform Hajj on his behalf?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: .
If an old man for whom travel and the acts of Hajj are difficult has Hajj performed on his behalf, how much more so is it for a strong, capable person who dies without performing Hajj? He is even more deserving of having Hajj performed on his behalf. There is also another authentic hadith in which a woman said: "O Messenger of Allah, my mother vowed to perform Hajj but did not do so until she died. Should I perform Hajj on her behalf?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .

As for the second case: The second case is when the deceased was poor and unable to perform Hajj, or was an old man who was unable to perform Hajj while alive. In this case, it is prescribed for the awliya (close friends of Allah) of such a person, such as his son or daughter, to perform Hajj on his behalf, based on the aforementioned hadiths, and based on the hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) heard a man saying: "Labbaik on behalf of Shubrumah." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: . He said: "He is my brother or a relative." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . He said: "No." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
This hadith is also narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) as a mawquf (stopping at a Companion). In both narrations, the hadith indicates the permissibility of performing Hajj on behalf of another, whether the Hajj is obligatory or voluntary.
As for the saying of Allah, the Exalted: [Surah An-Najm: 39], its meaning is not that a person is not benefited by the deeds of others, or that the efforts of others do not suffice for him. Rather, its meaning, according to the reliable scholars of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), is that a person has no share in the efforts of others; he only has his own efforts and deeds. As for the deeds of others, if he intends them for him and they are performed on his behalf, then that benefits him and he is rewarded for it, just as he is rewarded for the supplication of his brother and his charity on his behalf. Similarly, his Hajj and fasting on his behalf, if he had fasting owed to him, are valid. This is based on the authentic hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim from Aisha. This is specific to acts of worship for which the Shari'ah has established the concept of acting on behalf of another, such as supplication, charity, Hajj, and fasting. As for other acts, it is a matter of consideration and disagreement among scholars, such as prayer and recitation. The preferable course is to refrain from them, restricting oneself to what has been transmitted and exercising caution regarding worship. May Allah grant success.